Saturday, June 04, 2011

More Than A Feel-Good Story

Yes, this could be labeled a feel-good story. But IMHO it is so much more. It is a reminder that every person has his or her own innate worth because he or she is made in the image of God. Every person has something to offer that only that person can give because only that person was meant to do so by God. That something has nothing to do with IQ, or any other real or perceived disability either.

I refrained form commenting the other day about what Larry Flint had to say about Trig Palin. I did so because mostly out of disgust. 1st of all,Trig is not an it. He is a human being just as much as Flynt, you or I are. 2ndly, Flynt showed his complete ignorance when he said that Trig was a vegetable, etc. He has no idea of how long Trig will live or what he can or can't do. & where do I start with his hypocricy given the description of his current condition, "confined to a wheelchair, hardly able to communicate, unable to support his neck, or retain attention for more than a few seconds." If you use his standard, it sounds to me like he is the one who is more like a vegetable than Trig.

But no matter how sleezy or slimey a person, & Flint definitely fits that description, he has the right to live just as much as Trig does. Also, can you imagine the uproar if a Republican had said the following about the Obamas? "You know they may be black but they’ve got a very stable family.” "They may be black"??????????? "Stable family"?????????? If that isn't racist, I don't know what is. He is basicly saying that blacks don't usually have stable families because they are black. At least that is how Sharpton et al would take it if the person was a Republican. So once again we also see the left's double standard as well.

Congratulations Maisie on being selected prom queen. Looking at all you have given to your classmates over the years, I can't imagine anyone more deserving than you.

Here’s a feel-good story for you. Students at a high school in Missouri have voted to crown a 19-year-old classmate who has Down syndrome as this year’s prom queen. The Daily Mail reports:Maisie has been at the school since kindergarten, and is extremely popular among the students in her year, many of whom who have known her since she was five.Mrs O’Dell (Maisie’s teacher and mentor) said: ‘‘They all know her really well, they all help her when she needs it. The vote was pretty much unanimous’Describing her as ‘the sweetest person’, Mrs O’Dell said Maisie has won the hearts of everyone at school as the morning greeter, high-fiving the students as they walk in the door.She also volunteers at the school, rolling the teachers’ cutlery every morning and delivering the mail to staff.But this story is more than just a heart-warming tale of a school rallying around a girl born with a disability, and that girl’s power to touch the lives of those she knows. In an age where over 90% of Down syndrome children are aborted in Western countries, the story has a powerful message about acceptance and the need to dispel the destructive myths that have come to surround Down syndrome.It was only last week that infamous pornographer Larry Flynt publicly lambasted Sarah Palin for having given birth to her son Trig, who has Down syndrome. Flynt charged Palin with having done a “disservice” to American women, saying that Trig is “brain dead. A virtual vegetable,” and even called into question Palin’s status as a “compassionate conservative” because she didn’t have Trig aborted. (As if having someone killed because they don’t measure up to our definition of “perfect” is “compassionate”!)People might respond that Flynt’s loathsome views are hardly representative of the views of the wider population. But how can that argument stand, when children with Down syndrome have practically disappeared from the West, not because a cure has been found, but because they are being callously killed in their mothers’ wombs for no other reason than that they have this “defect”?The common view now is that those with Down syndrome will be unable to live fulfilling lives, and, what is more, will be an excessive burden upon their parents. In a frightening number of cases those with Down syndrome are deemed “unfit” to live, and their lives snuffed out before they even get a chance.But how does this attitude jibe with the story of Maisie, Fair Grove High School’s latest prom queen? The News Leader reports:Maisie’s father, Mike Garoutte, said his daughter was on top of the world.“It was real sweet of those kids,” he said. “She was mighty proud of that crown. She’s got it right on top of her jewelry box. She’s just real thankful for this.”As anyone who has ever met a person with Down syndrome knows, they are often the sweetest, mildest tempered, and happiest people in the world. Yes, they are unable to do a lot of the things that we have decided are “important” – such as having a successful career, being a top athlete, or enjoying stunning good looks. But shouldn’t the fact that so many of those with Down syndrome are happy (in fact, a lot happier than most of us) despite these “deficiencies,” force us to question whether or not our priorities might be out of whack?Imagine, Maisie, the newly crowned prom queen, had a nearly 90% chance of never being born. Kudos to her parents for having accepted her and given her a chance to touch the hearts of so many.

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About Me

Sono Italiano-americano. I am a member of St Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church. I am an advisor to Alpha Phi Omega & College Republicans at Loras College. I am a member of the Dubuque Co. Republican Central Committee. I have been involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement since 1974. For me the overriding issue of the day is defending the preborn & upholding their right to life. If we don't value life before birth, we devalue it after birth. Life is a gift from God. This is why I am a supporter of the work that Dubuque County Right to Life does in my area. & that is why I am politically active. Our nation's laws need to be changed to protect all from conception to natural death.